How to save the UK's economy

The UK finance minister has announced the biggest spending cuts in decades.

George Osborne, the UK's finance minister, has announced the biggest spending cuts in decade, saying these measures are the only way to bring the country from the brink.

The cuts, which will shape the course of the economy over the next four years, are the deepest since the early 1920s and follow the longest and deepest slump in output since World War Two.

Economists are split between those who say the drastic action is needed and those who argue it will tip the UK back into recession.

So, will these cuts save the UK's economy? And were there any political motives?

Inside Story, with presenter Hoda Abdelhamid, discusses with Vanessa Rossi, a senior research fellow of the International Economics Programme at Chatham House, Iain Dale, a political commentator and author, and Mehdi Hasan, The New Statesman's senior political editor.